Liquid Finance Review 2026: ARCH Liquid Staking

Liquid Finance is a non-custodial liquid staking protocol. Its documentation describes a service focused on the Archway ecosystem: users deposit ARCH and receive sARCH, a liquid token representing their staked balance and accumulated rewards. The protocol delegates ARCH to a validator whitelist and automatically restakes claimed rewards.

Users can redeem through traditional unstaking, which can take up to 25 days, or through an instant unstaking queue for a 1% fee when liquidity is available. ARCH holders can also provide queue liquidity and receive a share of swap fees plus ARCH incentives. The documentation describes native deployment on Archway, while protocol tracking lists Arbitrum; confirm the current network before interacting.

Liquid Finance accepts ARCH deposits and mints sARCH according to its exchange rate. It delegates deposited ARCH to a whitelist of validators. The protocol claims staking rewards and restakes them, so the value represented by sARCH reflects accrued staking rewards while the token remains transferable and usable in compatible applications.

To exit, a holder can request traditional unstaking, which can take up to 25 days, or swap sARCH for ARCH through the instant unstaking queue for a 1% fee. The queue uses liquidity supplied by providers, so instant redemption depends on funds being available. Providers can earn part of swap fees and ARCH incentives, and an optional Compound setting automates re-adding claimable funds to the queue.

Liquid Finance states that instant unstaking carries a 1% fee. Liquidity providers in the instant unstaking queue receive 50% of swap fees; the documentation also describes ARCH incentives, but does not state their amount. Other deposit, staking, or withdrawal fees are not published in the documentation. Check the protocol interface and current documentation before transacting.

Liquid Finance describes itself as non-custodial and says deposited ARCH is delegated across a whitelist of validators. Liquid staking still carries smart-contract, validator, slashing, liquidity, and sARCH market-price risks; instant redemption is not guaranteed when queue liquidity is insufficient. The project does not list an audit in its audit information, and the documentation does not provide enough detail to assess custody controls or incident history.

The documentation describes the protocol as deployed on Archway, while protocol tracking lists Arbitrum. Confirm the supported network and contract details before depositing. No licensing information is published.

Liquid Finance is aimed at ARCH holders who want a liquid staking token, and at users willing to provide ARCH liquidity to its redemption queue. It is less suited to people who need guaranteed immediate access to their funds or who are not comfortable with validator, smart-contract, and token-liquidity risks.